Confessions of an Autowala

A 20 minute ride from Vikhroli Station to Hiranandani has reinforced my perspective against the actions of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

Upon settling down in his vehicle, 'R' tried to make small talk with me. With 20 minutes to spare, I preferred to talk to a stranger than reading Overload by Arthur Hailey. The following conversation has been translated to English for the ease of typing.

R: Where do you want to go?
Me: Hiranandani.
R: Come.
(After 2 mintues)
R: Ask your minister to improve these roads. Do you think you'll be in time for office? Its going to take ages to get out of here.
Me: What do you think I can do? Its ok, I'm used to this now.
R: No, what I meant was that the Prime Minister will only listen to you people. He's a sardar too. Manmohan Singh acha aadmi hai. After all, everyone worries about their own people, don't they? Now, when Raj Thakeray beats up people like us, what do we do? We're used to this too, you know.
Me: Were there any incidents of beating up someone here?
R: No, not really, but they did beat up my friend.
Me: Who did you vote for?
R: I voted for the Congress. Who else do you think I could possibly vote for? There's no one else.
Me: Where are you from?
R: I'm from Bihar.
Me: Nitish Kumar has done a good job there, hasn't he? He steamrolled over his opponents in the elections this time.
R: Yeah, he's done really well. The roads are better, water is available and the farmers are taken care of. He HAD to win.
Me: Are you planning to go back?
R: No, not at all. I will continue to stay here.


Try reading the first paragraph of the article titled 2008 attacks on North Indians in Maharashtra on Wikipedia. It has been morphed into the 2008 attacks on Maharashtrians by North Indians. An excerpt from the article -

"Some 2000 men mostly from UP and Bihar attacked Marathi people from Dadar area which resulted in bloody reaction by MNS workers. It was very organized attack supposed to be supported by Lalu Yadav (formar CM of Bihar) and Mulayam singh Yadav (formar CM of UP.).Later all the national media accused Raj Thakare for these attacks which were planned in UP/Bihar. One Marathi person was killed in the attacks and not a single North indian person died."

Edit: The Wiki-article has now been edited. Only the 1st paragraph of the original article was flawed, which has now been deleted. The map of India on the right side of the article still has the title 2008 attacks on Maharashtrians by North Indians.


A fascinating read on the website of the MNS is titled Understand Misunderstandings. An excerpt -

Q: You say you admire Gandhi, who preached non-violence. Then why do your followers heed to violence?

A: Mahatma Gandhi’s opponents were intellectual, intelligent and educated British individuals who were a part of a civilised society. His method is ineffective when you’re pitted against uncivilised individuals who don’t understand polite requests. What would happen if you tried to teach a six year old about the Dnyaneshwari? Will it work? No.
You need to communicate with your opponent in a language they understand and a language they can comprehend.

Lets put in some numbers here. The constituents of Mumbai's exploding population of 17 million are as follows -
Marathi Speaking (incl Dalits): 42%
Hindi Speaking North Indians : 21%
Gujarati Speaking : 18%
Muslims : 17%
The Christians, Parsis, Tamilians, Kannadigas, Sikhs, Sindhis and Jewish, also known as Bene Israelis) make up the rest of the city's people.
(Reference: India Proposes)

Let us not forget that the support to the MNS is massive. Even though it lost all the seats it contested for, the MNS is now being regarded as a potent force, primarily due to the massive Marathi population in Mumbai. But antagonizing the rest of the population in Mumbai for the sake of 42% of the votes is foolhardy.

I expect you to come up with a judgement yourself.